A Not So Terrible Blind Date
by Ethril
Summary: Harry found himself sitting at a restaurant waiting for his date. The date he had been setup on by Hermoine. He had no idea who was about to walk through that door or if the date would even remotely go well. Imagine his surprise when it's Malfoy that joins him at his table.


Disclaimer: I do not own HP

A/N: I take prompts during my live streams. My goal for the prompts is to write at least 1k. This one ran longer than I thought it would and I enjoyed writing it. Just a cute little thing you know?

I do live streams on Wednesdays and Sundays at 2pm MST over at my Picarto channel (chaineddragonworks). Come join me and give me inspiration or yell at me whenever I get distracted!

For updates on when my live streams are going to happen or whatever, head over to my tumblr: ethrildragon

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Prompt 1 for December 27th Live Stream.

Prompt: Blind Date.

Characters: Harry x Draco

Rating: T

Prompt 1: Blind Date

Characters: Harry x Draco

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Harry didn't know why he'd agreed to this when Hermoine had first suggested it. A blind date was not something that he was normally did, but try telling that to a woman that was so very sure everyone needed to have a special person in their life.

He didn't even know what had prompted Hermoine to bring up the topic of dating.

The more Harry thought about it the more he was sure the bushy haired woman had tricked Harry into agreeing to this stupid blind date.

And there was nothing Harry could do to get out of it now.

On the designated day and about 30 minutes before the date was to start Harry made his way to the muggle restaurant that Hermoine had made the reservation at. Everything about this date had been planned by Hermoine; everything except what Harry was wearing.

To be on the safe side Harry had selected a simple and comfortable button up long sleeve shirt that was a deep green color. To go along with the shirt he'd selected a pair of black slacks and comfortable black dress shoes.

Despite how long Harry fought with his hair the wild locks refused to be tamed, but at least the constant brushing had given his dark hair a healthy shine and silky appearance.

Harry had to fight the urge to reach up and brush his hand through his hair as he thought about it. What would his blind date think when he saw Harry's wild hair? Would he be insulted? Would he find it cute?

He was a ball of nerves while he sat there waiting. This was why he didn't go on dates! He hated getting ready only for something to go wrong or for his date to find something lacking. If the date wasn't ruined by that, then Harry was usually turned off because his date recognized him as the 'boy who lived'.

It was annoying and eternally unsettling.

"This way to your table sir."

Those words had had Harry almost jumping every time the server approached his table with someone. Every time up until then hadn't been his date and Harry could feel himself on edge. So he forced himself to stay in his seat this time.

"Potter."

That voice. Harry knew that voice. It was the last voice he had expected.

"Malfoy?!" Harry quickly got out of his seat to look at the platinum blond with wide eyes. "W-what are you doing here?"

With a huff of impatience Draco went to the chair opposite from Harry's and sat down with a stiff elegance.

"Granger."

It'd been 3 years since the Final Battle and Harry's defeat of the Dark Lord. Since then Harry, Hermoine, and Ron had all taken jobs at the ministry. At first Harry had thought of becoming an Auror, but he'd actually found himself drawn to the Department of Mysteries.

Harry had known Malfoy worked at the ministry, but he had never bothered to learn which department the blond had gone into. He had wanted too, the impulse to keep an eye on Malfoy had become a habit he'd picked up in school, but Harry had resisted the urge.

"I thought you disliked her." Harry hesitantly retook his seat. If Hermoine had chosen Malfoy to be his blind date then there had to have been a damned good reason.

Malfoy snorted every so softly. "I don't dislike her. It is a little difficult to dislike someone when you work with them."

Harry blinked in surprise at that. "You work with Hermoine?"

For a moment Malfoy contemplated Harry, his grey eyes narrowed and his head tilted a little to the side. "Our departments overlap a great deal. So we are usually assigned to work together when such an event occurs."

Hermoine worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, mostly as an advocate for the rights of magical creatures and beings. She'd never mentioned working with Malfoy before, but then again Harry always got lost whenever Hermoine started talking about work.

"So," Harry cleared his throat a little. This date was not off to a good start and already Harry was feeling the need to flee. Why did it have to be Malfoy?! "Which department do you work in then?"

Again Malfoy opted to just stare at Harry, as if he couldn't believe he was asking such questions. "I would have thought you already knew."

Quickly, Harry shook his head. A light blush dusted his cheeks. "This isn't school anymore Malfoy. I'm not going to stalk you for no reason."

"Will miracles never cease." Malfoy droned sarcastically with a small smile. "I work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"Oh." Harry found himself at a loss for what to talk about next. "So...works good then?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "Is this your first date Potter? Or are you trying to bore me to death?"

Thankfully Harry didn't have to answer that question seeing as how their server arrived to take their orders. Having spent 30 minutes reading the menu Harry was able to quickly give her what he wanted. He looked at Malfoy to see if he was even going to take the time to look at the menu, instead he found that the menu before Malfoy closed and untouched.

"I'll have the Top Sirloin, rare, with the red potatoes and a salad. No dressing."

"Huh." The server left quickly after getting their drink orders.

"What is it Potter?" Malfoy's eyes were narrowed again as he glared at the man across from him.

Harry fidgeted with his napkin for a moment before letting fall into his lap. "I wasn't expecting you to order something so...simple."

Malfoy huffed loudly and he looked away from Harry. "Despite what you may or may not think, I do enjoy simple meals." He stated quickly. "And this restaurant has a very good steak." Malfoy added and Harry was surprised to see a light blush there.

"You've been here before? But this is a-" Harry dropped his voice a little so they wouldn't attracted attention. "a muggle restaurant."

"I know what it is Potter." Malfoy sneered and it took all his control not to snap at his date. "This place was my suggestion when Granger made the arrangements."

"But...but you-"

"I am not my father Potter." That time Malfoy really did snap and his lip curled a little. "After the trials, I decided to take my life in a different direction."

Harry remembered the trials. He'd been a key witness for Draco and his mother; it had been his testimony that had kept both of them out of Azkaban. There hadn't been much he could do for Draco's father though.

With the two of them being in a muggle restaurant they couldn't exactly discuss things.

"I spent time learning about muggles and even went to a local university for a couple years. I have a degree in business administration."

Just what the hell had happened to Malfoy during the time Harry hadn't been looking?

The two were silent for awhile after that, neither knowing what to say next. The arrival of their appetizers was a welcome break in their silence.

"Did you know it would be me?" Harry asked as he pushed his spoon around in his nearly empty bowl of soup.

"No." Malfoy answered truthfully. There was a light blush on his cheeks again and the blond refused to look at Harry. "Granger just told me she had a friend that she was looking to set up on a date. She said he was hopeless at romance and that she was worried he would never try to date again after his last breakup."

Harry winced a little. His last breakup had been with Ginny and that had happened almost two years ago. It hadn't been pretty, it had been loud, and Harry had been left alone and confused. He'd tried dating women a few times after that, but he hadn't realized just why Ginny had left until he had gone out for lunch with a young man from work.

Ginny had known even before Harry had that he was gay. She had only reconciled with him after he had apologized for yelling and had told her about what he had learned. Ginny had looked so relieved by Harry's revelation and they had gone back to being good friends.

Malfoy's glance and arch of his brow told Harry he was asking the same question to him.

"I had no idea it would be you." Harry admitted sheepishly. "Hermoine just told me to dress nice, where to go, and when. I only went along with it because she blackmailed me into it."

That got a quick laugh out of Malfoy. "Yeah she's rather good at that."

Slowly, the tension between Draco and Harry melted away and the two found themselves talking about the recent quidditch matches. They were so engrossed in arguing over which teams would make it to the world cup that dinner finished and they were ordering dessert.

"I'm surprised." Draco said softly as he pushed his fork into his chocolate torte.

"Hm?" Harry stopped eating his own chocolate covered pastry and ice cream when Draco spoke.

For a moment Draco's shoulders twitched and his cheeks darkened a little more. "When I saw that it was you, I half expected to be cursed right out of the restaurant." There was a tiny tremor in Draco's voice and Harry had to strain his ears to hear it. "I thought we would get into a fight. I'm glad we didn't."

In response to Draco's blush Harry felt heat spreading across his own face. "Me too. I mean, that we didn't fight. I'm glad." Harry stumbled a little over his words and to stop himself from blabbering on he went back to eating his pastry.

Draco snorted a little. "She was right. You are hopeless at dating." He finished his torte and quickly wiped his mouth with the edge of his napkin. "I guess we'll just have to go on another date. Perhaps two. At least until I'm sure you won't mess up anymore."

Harry leaned back in surprise. He had definitely not seen that coming! Was Draco really offering to go out again with Harry? He supposed their dinner had been too terrible and they had actually gotten along for the most part.

"Well," Harry spoke tentatively. "I don't think that will work." He didn't hate Draco, he hadn't felt real animosity since Draco had saved him back at the manor during their 7th year. Harry felt a strange little thrill at the defeated look that he caught in Draco's eyes. "It might take more than just two dates. I'm a slow learner."

A light seemed to flicker through Draco's eyes and his grey eyes seemed to turn molten silver as he looked straight into Harry's emerald green eyes. "That's true. I doubt you'll learn until we've gone out on at least a dozen dates."

"Might want to throw in a few lunch dates and coffees." Harry couldn't seem to look away from those silver eyes.

"Lunch tomorrow then?"

"It can't be too long, I have work."

"So do I. So?"

Harry sucked in his breath at the determined look in Draco's eyes. "Yeah. Lunch sounds good."

Draco ended up paying for their meal. Both men were loathe to let the date end quiet yet so instead they found themselves wandering down the side walk through London. They were close enough that every now and then their hips would brush against each other.

Harry wanted to kill Hermoine for tricking him into the blind date, but he couldn't complain too much. Draco wasn't that bad and Harry was actually looking forward to the quick lunch date they would have the following day. So maybe Harry wouldn't kill Hermoine; maybe just lightly injure.

And then he would be sure to thank her.


End file.
